Redskins' Jay Gruden: 'I like big receivers . . .'

The Washington Redskins lost wideouts Desean Jackson and Pierre Garcon during free agency. Coach Jay Gruden is longing to see what his new receiving core has to offer.

It looks much different this year with the additions of wide receivers Terrelle Pryor Sr and Brian Quick. Second-year WR Josh Doctson’s return from injury can be seen as an addition to the offense as well, since he missed 14 games in 2016.

Gruden spoke with the media at the NFL owners meetings in Arizona, and he believes his new receivers will cause matchup problems for opposing teams. He loves Pryor’s measurables and looks forward to Doctson’s progress.

“I like big receivers personally, but I also like little ones like Jamison [Crowder], but I think it’s a great advantage to have,” Gruden said. “When you have 6-foot-5, 6-foot-3 with a guy that has a 40-inch vertical then you throw Crowder in there with a great change of direction. I like Maurice Harris and I like Ryan Grant who is not real big but has decent size. Having the luxury of having some big guys, some quick guys and some great guys who run routes like Maurice and Ryan Grant, I think we have great options. Now we add Quick who is another big guy so the options are there for him.”

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Gruden is familiar with the matchup nightmare Pryor can be. The Redskins played against the Cleveland Browns last year, and Pryor scored a touchdown over double-coverage.

“You just watch him running around, and you’re like, ‘Golly, who’s that guy?'” Gruden said. “He’s a good looking guy in a uniform that’s for sure. Tall, long-legged guy. You can tell he’s a great competitor. He was at Ohio State, and will continue to be.”

More than likely, Doctson will be opposite of Pryor in 2017. Gruden remains optimistic the former TCU All-American will make a huge contribution to the offense next year.

“That’s a big thing with him,” Gruden said. “We took it really slow. I think Larry Hess and the training room did a great job with him. We sent him to a lot of doctors to try and figure out what was wrong with him. We took it slow and I think he’s in a good place mentally and that’s half the battle. We’ll continue to gradually build him through OTAs and the mandatory camp so hopefully we’ll get him to full speed in training camp and go from there. I’m excited as heck to watch him play.”

Redskins fans should also be excited to see what Doctson and the rest of this unit can do in 2017.

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